After a long and grueling road trip, the Dallas Stars are finally back home in the confines of the AAC. With three games in a row at home, it’s essential that the Stars take control and keep up their streak of strong home performances.
Home sweet home. After two straight weeks on the road, the Dallas Stars are back in Big D for a three-game stretch.
It was not the ideal run for Dallas away from home, but they still managed to pull off a 2-3-0 record. That’s impressive considering they started the trip off with two straight losses.
The road trip helped bring the Stars to their current record of 7-6-0 on the year. They sit in the second wild card spot, but are interlocked in a four-way tie. The Blackhawks, Flames, and Predators are all locked with Dallas at 14 points, but the Stars hold the advantage in ROWs.
Still, it’s a tight spot to be in. As the Dallas Stars open up a three-game homestand tonight against Buffalo, there’s a lot on the line.
Dallas Stars
For one, Dallas is still trying to prove themselves as a playoff-contending team. Their play is encouraging and dominant in spurts, but their record is still just average. It’s not the most impressive showing so far, but there is still time to turn things around. The difference between this year’s team and last year’s at this moment is the fact that this team has the tools and determination to turn it around.
But will they? That’s the question at hand. These next three games will help prove whether Dallas is a legit contender or a measly preseason pretender.
Over the next six days, the Dallas Stars will welcome the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, and New York Islanders to the AAC. These three games offer the Stars yet another chance to establish their reputation and a chance to get ahead in the standings.
Buffalo enters Saturday night’s game against Dallas as the third-worst team in the Eastern Conference. They also come in at 26th in the league rankings. Almost all of their stats (goals for, goals against, special teams) are ranked in the bottom two-thirds of the NHL. All in all, they are struggling in the beginning of yet another season.
That gives Dallas a great chance to capitalize against a stumbling team. Though Buffalo always puts up a good fight with their young core of players, the Stars need to take advantage of their weak spots and expose them. With that, the Stars can also get back into the win column and turn their misfortunes around.
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Following Buffalo, the Stars will welcome the Winnipeg Jets to Dallas for their second meeting of the year on Monday. Dallas dropped a 5-2 decision to Winnipeg on Thursday night in Manitoba, bumping their Central Division record down to 1-4-0.
This time around, the Stars will be on home ice and have a better grasp on what Winnipeg will bring to the game. Each divisional game is important, and Dallas needs to zone in on this matchup.
Finally, the New York Islanders will visit Dallas on Friday night. The Islanders are currently holding a wild card spot with a respectable 7-5-1 record. They are being led primarily by the hot hand of John Tavares, who already has two hat tricks this season. If the Stars can overtake another Eastern Conference opponent, it will boost them even further.
These next three games could either help or hurt the Dallas Stars in a big way. Considering they currently own a four-game win streak at the AAC, there’s reason to believe that they can turn a corner in the homestand ahead.
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Three games and a lot of pressure to start proving themselves. This week means a lot to the Dallas Stars. It all starts tonight at 7:00 against the Sabres.